Light of The Hearth
by xXDarkDiaXx
Summary: AU! After Sally is killed by Gabe when Percy is 7, he runs away and is adopted by the Sethia family. Raised there as Hera's champion, he will travel with his adopted sister, Alice, legacy of Hecate and Hestia's champion, and save Olympus from utter destruction. T for language and possibly blood. Pairings decided: PercyxAnnabeth, ThaliaxBianca, NicoxOC. (Maybe more to come.)
1. 1: A New Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan does.**

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Chapter 1: A New Home

Percy Jackson sleepily blinked opened his eyes. He sat up slowly and looked around the room. It was very unfamiliar, and he had a feeling that he had never been here before. He stared at the plain blue wall before his memory of what had happened over the past week came back to him in a rush.

"Mom…" he whispered, remembering the sight of his step-father, Gabe Ugliano, killing her. A tear slid down his cheek as the door was pushed open a bit. The figure at the door gasped.

"Mama! Papa! He's awake," the figure called in a feminine voice. The door was pushed all the way open, and Percy stared at the girl.

She looked to be around his age, maybe a year or two older. She had long, black hair, pale skin, and brown eyes. She was dressed in a purple summer dress, and her hair hung loosely down to her waist.

He heard footsteps, and two more figures appeared in the doorway. Both were adults. The woman had black hair and green eyes. The man also black hair, but he sported brown eyes. It was obvious that the girl, who was now standing at the foot of the bed, was their child. The woman approached him, and sat down at the end of his bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly as the man, who he assumed to be her husband, sat down next to her.

"Okay, I guess. My arm hurts a bit," he replied. The man and the woman had a quick, quiet conversation before the man left.

"My husband, Ivan, is going to get something for the pain. I'm Quinn. Quinn Sethia. This is my daughter, Alice," she said. Alice waved when her mother said her name.

"I'm Percy Jackson," Percy replied. Quinn smiled gently at him.

"Are you, perhaps, Sally Jackson's son?" Quinn asked curiously.

"Yes. Did you know her?" Percy asked in response. Quinn sighed sadly.

"I was an acquaintance of hers. I visited the shop she worked at often. It was a sad thing to hear that she had passed on into Hade's realm."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to save her life. My step-father was too drunk to listen to reason." He looked down at his hands and clenched them tightly. Quinn laid one of her hands on his hands, and he looked up at her face.

"It's not your fault. Stopping your step-father might not have been able to save her if the Fates had decided that she was ready to die." Percy nodded his head, his eyes brimming with tears. It was at that point in the conversation when Ivan walked back in with a glass of water and some pain medication.

"Here," he said, handing the items to Percy, "take these pain killers to help with your arm." Percy nodded and took the medicine without any complaints.

"Thank you," he said as Ivan turned to his daughter.

"Alice, will you come help me make some food for our guest?" he asked her, and she nodded cheerfully. The left the room together, leaving the 7-year-old boy with Quinn.

"It'll take about 30 minutes for the medicine to set in," Quinn said.

"Thank you," replied Percy.

"No problem," she said with a smile. They sat in silence for a minute or two before Percy spoke up about something that had confused him earlier.

"I heard you mention Greek Mythology. Why?" Quinn heaved a deep sigh before she began to explain.

-I'm a Line Break-

Percy sat at the kitchen table, his plate empty after a nice, filling meal. He was amazed with what Quinn had told him. He had never expected that Greek Gods were real, but it explained the monsters that had attacked him after he had left his home and some of the other strange occurrences in his life. She had also said that he was most likely a child of one of the Greek Gods, seeing as the monsters attacked him.

"How did you figure out that Greek Mythology is real?" Percy questioned the family of three sitting at the kitchen table with him. Quinn and Ivan shared a look before Ivan spoke.

"Quinn is a daughter of Hecate, the goddess of magic. I am a legacy of a war god, though which war god is my parent shall remain a secret for now. Alice is a legacy of Hecate and Hestia's champion," Ivan said.

"How is she Hestia's champion?" Percy asked curiously.

"When she was born, she was very weak, so Quinn and I prayed to the gods. It was Hestia who answered our prayers. She blessed Alice with her gift so that Alice would be able to survive. It worked, and Alice is a now growing 7-year-old without any problems from her rough birth," Ivan said with a smile. Alice smiled at Percy.

"Maybe you can become a god's champion when you get older!" Alice exclaimed happily, causing her parents to laugh. Percy smiled at her, his first smile since he had woken up. They didn't realize how spot on Alice's prediction would be.

A week later, Percy was adopted into the Sethia family. He would know be known as Perseus Sethia-Jackson. Though, most of the time he preferred to go by Percy Sethia.

Percy was 8 when Hera chose him to become her champion. According to Alice, Hestia found out that Poseidon was Percy's dad when Poseidon was moping about during one of the counsel's meetings. She had asked him what was wrong, and he had explained that he had learned that Sally Jackson had been killed and that her son was missing. Hera was there when Hestia explained that the Sethia family had adopted Percy. Poseidon wanted to go see Percy right away, but Hestia reminded him of the Ancient Laws that restricted him from doing so. That was when Hera had spoken up. She said that she would keep an eye on Percy, since she had grown a fondness for the Sethia family, by letting him become her champion. Percy's life only got better from then on.

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**Woot, a new story!**

**First things first, if anything is confusing or seems out of place, please review with your comment or PM me.**

**You will find that I might skip some scenes (especially in the PJO part of the story), for this story's main focus is HoO (and possibly an HP crossover post-Giant War). I will summarize what happens in those scenes in the ending author's note, so if you want to know what happened, read the goddammed author's note. And, yes, this story is rated T for cursing.**

**If you are wondering, Alice will be a semi-major OC. She will have an effect on the story (possibly saving some characters who I think should have lived), and she will be a strong warrior. Also, if you're wondering about Percy's power as Hera's champion, the main thing is that they're more mental/magical powers than physical.**

**I hope you enjoy this lovely story of mine!**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**

**PS: Sorry about any issues. This thing can be such a pain.  
**


	2. 2: Camp Half-Blood

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan does.**

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Chapter 2: Camp Half-Blood

Percy wished that his sister had agreed to come with him to Camp Half-Blood. Even though they had only known each other for about 5 years, they were very close. She had told him that she didn't want to go because she wouldn't fit in. Her exact words were, "I'm not going. I'm not going to fit in because I'm a legacy, of Hecate too, and my patron is Hestia. I'd be stuck in the Hermes cabin, like Mama was." He had to admit, she had good logic. He sighed and continued to trudge down the road that led to Camp Half-Blood.

"Why do I have to walk again?" Percy muttered under his breath. He continued walking, a giant pine tree coming into view. He stopped about 5 yards from the tree. 'Okay,' he thought, 'Aunt Hera said that the tree is her husband's demigod daughter, Thalia, and that the tree is the edge of the boundaries of the camp. Once I walk past them, I'm subject to the rules of the camp… and the rules my family gave me.' He pulled out a piece of paper and stared at the rules from his family.

_Rule 1: You don't know who your dad is, though you do know about the gods. (from Mom)_

_Rule 2: Remember your training. It might save you in the long run. (from Dad)_

_Rule 3: Don't call me sister if they aren't aware of your adoption. I'm just a "friend". (from Alice)_

_Rule 4: You shall go by Percy Jackson, for most monsters don't know about your adoption. (from Hestia)_

_Rule 5: Try your best not to anger the gods. Poseidon, Hestia, and I will protect you as best as we can from the wrath of the counsel. (from Hera)_

He sighed as he put the paper away and continued walking towards the camp. As he passed through the boundaries, he saw a centaur approaching him. He figured it was Chiron. According to Hestia, his patron had told Chiron of his arrival.

"Hello, Perseus Sethia-Jackson," Chiron said as he reached the 12-year-old demigod. Percy bowed his head to Chiron.

"It's just Percy Jackson for now," he replied as Chiron gestured for him to follow him. Percy walked next to Chiron as he led the way to the Big House, the large farmhouse.

"Your sister's patron explained your situation to me. If you want to talk to her, she can be seen tending to the fire every now and then," Chiron said as he opened the door to the Big House. Percy went in first followed by Chiron, who closed the door.

"Thank you, Chiron. I'm guessing you're going to a have a demigod show me around, and then I'm to head towards the Hermes cabin," Percy commented as he leaned up against a wall.

"Correct. She should be here in a minute or so."

"Again, thank you, Chiron." Then, there came a knock at the Big House's front door. The door opened to show a girl around Percy's age with blonde hair, tan skin, and storm gray eyes.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase," she said, "Come along. I'm supposed to show you around the camp." Percy nodded to her, waved goodbye to Chiron, and followed her out the door.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson," he said to her as he closed the door. She smiled at him, and then she started his tour of Camp Half-Blood.

-I'm a Line Break-

"And this is the Hermes cabin, where you will be staying until you are claimed," Annabeth said, finishing the tour of camp.

"Thank you for the tour, Annabeth," he said. She smiled at him before opening the door to the Hermes cabin.

"We have a new camper here, Percy Jackson," she called into the crowded cabin. The people in there stopped to look at him.

"Hi," he said, waving his hand. One of the older campers stepped closer to him and looked him up and down.

"Regular or undetermined?" he questioned Annabeth, who blushed lightly. Percy raised an eyebrow at that.

"Undetermined," was her reply, which caused about half the cabin to groan. Suddenly, Percy understood exactly why Alice didn't want to come to camp.

"Okay. Percy, you can have this spot on the floor," the camper said, pointing to a spot on the floor. Percy assumed that this person must be the cabin counselor, seeing as he was college age, and he was calling the shots. Percy put his backpack down on the spot before turning to the rest of the cabin.

"Hermes is the god of thieves, right?" he asked, getting a nod in response, "Okay. If I find anything missing or anything out of place, I will find you and make sure that you don't do it again." His threat was carried out with an evil glare on his face. The campers who were obviously Hermes's kids shuddered with fright. The cabin counselor smiled at him and stuck his arm out.

"I'm Luke Castellan," the counselor said, "Nice job with my siblings. They would have had fun searching through your bag for valuables if you hadn't scared them." Percy took his hand a shook it with a shrug.

"I heard that Hermes was the god of thieves, and I like my stuff where I can find it," Percy replied. After that, Annabeth dragged him out of the Hermes cabin.

"That was well played, Percy," she said with a smile on her face. Percy shrugged again.

"One of my friends liked going through my stuff, so I have experience with people like that." Annabeth raised an eyebrow at that.

"What? It's true!" Annabeth laughed at that, causing Percy to smile. "Does the camp have any fun activities to do besides the classes we take?" he asked her.

"We play capture the flag every Friday. It's Athena vs. Ares this week, and Hermes has already teamed up with Athena, so we will be working together during the game," Annabeth said as they walked towards the lake.

"That should be fun," he said as he waved to the naiads at the bottom of the lake.

"You should be aware of the fact that naiads are terrible flirts," she commented as one of the naiads giggled and waved back.

"I figured, but I'm only 12. I'm not interested in any relationship right now," he replied as a conch shell blew in the distance. "Dinner?" he asked.

"Yes, dinner."

-I'm a Line Break-

Percy curled up in the sleeping bag Luke had stolen for him. He was writing a letter to his sister about his first day at camp. He told her about the tour, Annabeth the daughter of Athena, sacrificing his dinner to his patron and his dad, and his excitement about the game of capture the flag scheduled for Friday. At first, he didn't want to write to Alice about Annabeth, for he was worried that she would tease him about trying to get a girlfriend, but then he decided he would tell her anyways. He would live with her teasing like he always had. After he finished the letter, he rolled over and fell asleep.

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**Woot! Chapter 2 is out!**

**In this story, Percy doesn't face the minotaur until the 5th book. Also, he never went to the school from the beginning of the first book. Grover will come into play, but his role isn't as big as it was in the book.**

**Do you see what I mean by the fact that parts are skipped? The dinner basically happened the same way it did in the book, so I didn't bother writing it.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	3. 3: Meeting Alice

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Riordan does.**

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Chapter 3: Meeting Alice

Percy was sitting in the Poseidon cabin after lunch had finished, his head against the wall. It had been a week since he had arrived at camp, and he had already been claimed by Poseidon. He pulled out a pen and paper and began writing another letter to Alice.

_Dear Alice,_

_ How are you doing? It's Saturday, and I've already been claimed. I guess I owe you 5 drachmas. Well, according to the camp, Luke Castellan, the Hermes cabin's head counselor, is the best swordsman in the last 300 years or so. I didn't go full out on him, and I managed to beat him by a hair. I didn't want to show off all of my skills to the campers._

_ Still, it's fun hanging around Annabeth. I think she was surprised when she learned that I was a son of Poseidon because I never acted like a kid of Poseidon would. I was smarter than she expected. Well, at least, I had more common sense than she thought a child of Poseidon would have.  
_

_ Well, that's all for this letter._

_Percy_

He had just finished writing the letter when a rainbow appeared in front of him. It was an Iris Message. On the rainbow was the face of his sister, Alice.

"Alice!" he exclaimed as she waved at him. Her hair was up in a side ponytail, and it seemed her shirt had ruffles on it. He never understood her love for gothic-styled clothing.

"Hey, Percy!" she said with a smile.

"Really, Alice, really? Red highlights in your hair?" he asked after he got a good view of the red coloring added to her black hair. She smirked.

"In honor of my patron, it's red. It was purple before you left." Percy never seemed to get her obsession with coloring her hair.

"True. It's just that you usually choose less flashy colors." At this, his sister laughed. It went silent for a second, and then they heard a knock. Percy peaked out the window.

'It's Annabeth,' he mouthed to his sister. They had learned how to read lips in case they needed to communicate without sound.

'Let her in. I want to meet her,' she mouthed back. Percy nodded and opened the door.

"Annabeth, before you enter, I want to tell you that I haven't been, well, exactly honest with you…" he said sheepishly as he let her in. She looked around the room and then noticed the IM.

"Um, Percy, who's that?" she question as she was pulled onto his bed.

"Hi, I'm Alice. Percy, blue or green?" she asked, confusing Annabeth. Percy smiled at her.

"Blue. I have a feeling that, if I go on a quest, she'll be coming with me," Percy said.

"Blue? Green? What are you guys talking about?" Annabeth asked, frustrated. Alice smiled.

"It's a code in case something like this happens. You see, only Chiron knows that Percy was adopted by my family 5 years ago, when we were both 7. Well, now you and Chiron know," Alice said, smiling at Annabeth's face, "Blue means that I'll tell the whole truth, and green means that we tell it as if I'm just his friend."

"Why?" Annabeth asked, "and how do you know about Greek Mythology?"

"Actually, Percy has known since he was 7, and I've always known," Alice replied.

"Okay. That still doesn't answer my questions."

"Well, nobody besides Chiron, a couple gods, and my family know that Percy was adopted by us. We weren't sure if the last name 'Sethia' was known around camp or not. My mother went here. She was claimed by her mother, Hecate, but was forced to stay in the Hermes cabin, no offense meant to them or anything. That's why I'm not here. Where do you put a legacy of Hecate and Hestia's champion?"

"Hestia's champion?!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Yeah, long story. I'll tell it later. Don't worry, I will tell you the story. Anyways, my mom found Percy out on the streets when he was 7, and we adopted him. He's lived happily with us these past five years. My mom told him about the gods when he arrived, for she killed some monsters that were after him when she found him. Hera decided to make him her champion because she promised his dad that she would look after him. He's had a positive influence on her."

"Wow…" It took Annabeth a couple minutes to process the information she had been given. "Is that why you're so good at fighting?" she asked Percy, and he nodded.

"Well, I'm about to start the job Hera and Hestia gave me," Alice said, addressing her brother.

"Job?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Since I refused to go to Camp Half-Blood, they asked me to rescue young demigods and bring them to camp. I won't have to go to camp, but I would still be helping them," Alice replied.

"Sounds interesting," Annabeth sighed.

"Anything else you need to tell me? Anything you have seen, perhaps?" Percy asked.

"The cards tell me a quest is coming. Brother, prepare yourself. You already know the issue. Be careful; I like you being in one piece," Alice replied.

"What cards are you talking about?" Annabeth asked, ever the curious child of Athena.

"Sorry. I forgot to mention that the main magic I use is in the form of divination. Hecate is the goddess of crossroads, and that is where my power lies. I can see the different roads, and I can see some things that are set in stone," Hecate's legacy said sheepishly.

"Okay, I see," Annabeth replied.

"Well, I have to go now. Percy, be careful! I hope to see you soon and in one piece!" Alice said before swiping through the rainbow, ending the call.

"That was an interesting conversation," Percy commented after a couple minutes had passed in silence.

"Indeed. I like your sister, Percy. She's been a good influence on you. You aren't as much of a Seaweed Brain as I thought you would have been, being a child of Poseidon and all, and it's thanks to her," Annabeth said, taking a jab at her friend.

"Hey! I'm not a Seaweed Brain." Percy exclaimed, and Annabeth laughed. Percy smiled. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

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**Here's chapter 3!**

**I skipped the Capture the Flag game because it happened basically like the book's game of Capture the Flag. Annabeth has now met Alice, and the two of them shall become good friends in due time.  
**

**See you all next week!**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	4. 4: Let's Go Questing

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.**

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Chapter 4: Let's Go Questing

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were on a Greyhound bus together. Alice was right. Percy was sent on a quest. Not just any quest, but a quest to rescue Zeus's missing lightning bolt. He had asked Annabeth and Annabeth's satyr friend, Grover, to come with him. Grover was excited, but nervous at the same time. He wanted to prove his worth to the Council of Cloven Elders so that he could become a searcher, but he was nervous because they were headed to the Underworld. Yeah, the Underworld. Percy doubted that Hades was the cause of the missing lightning bolt, but it was their only lead.

"Why do I have the bad feeling that something bad is going to happen?" Percy commented. Annabeth glared at him.

"Never say that again," Annabeth said. That was when the three Furies got on the bus. Percy sent Annabeth an 'I told you so' look.

-I'm a Line Break-

Percy was starting to hate his luck.

"Of all the monsters of this world, it had to be Medusa. I'm starting to see where Alice gets the notion that I have bad luck," Percy commented.

"Who's Alice?" Grover asked as they settled down for the night.

"A friend," Percy replied.

-I'm a Line Break-

"Next time you suggest we go view a national monument, remind me to not be a selfless idiot and let you guys go first," Percy said after having come out of the water. He had jumped out of the Gateway Arch, which wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Well, I wasn't expecting Echidna to be there!" Annabeth replied. Grover face palmed.

"Guys, please stop fighting. We have a quest to finish," Grover said.

-I'm a Line Break-

"Why are we riding in this horrible truck again?" Percy asked, staring at the mistreated zebra, antelope, and lion.

"Ares pointed the way. At least it'll get us there," Annabeth grumbled. She was annoyed at the trap she and Percy had sprung. Though, Percy assured her, his patron and his dad would try to do damage control for them.

"Well, I'm going to bed. There's no way I'm staying awake to stare at these poor animals," Grover said before curling up and falling asleep. Percy and Annabeth both looked at each other, shrugged, and fell asleep.

Percy shook Annabeth, effectively waking her up.

"What was that for, Percy? I was sleeping," Annabeth complained as Percy pulled out a drachma.

"I need to talk to my sister about something, and I have a question for you," he said as he created a rainbow out of the water particles in the air. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't realize you could do that," she commented as he threw the drachma into the rainbow.

"You never asked. O, Iris, goddess of rainbows, please accept my offering and show me Alice Sethia, wherever she may be," Percy called out, and his sister's face appeared on the rainbow. Alice opened her mouth but Percy shushed her with a finger against his mouth.

"Shh, we're hiding right now, and our other companion is sleeping," Percy said quietly.

"So, why'd you call?" Alice asked, as quiet as Percy was.

"I had an interesting dream, and I wanted your help with figuring out what it meant, since dreams and the future are your area of expertise."

"Fire away."

"I saw Thalia Grace, Zeus's daughter who is currently a tree." Annabeth turned to stare at him.

"How did you know it was her? What did she look like?" Annabeth asked excitedly. Something clicked in Percy's mind. He had a feeling he knew the answer to the question he wanted to ask her.

"I had this feeling. I just… knew that it was her. She looked like me, except with spiky hair. She had green eyes, which I found weird since I thought she was a daughter of Zeus," Percy replied, Alice listening in on the conversation from the open IM.

"Her eyes are electric blue, not green. I'm not why they appeared green in your dream," Annabeth said, a frown on her face.

"I have an idea," Alice said. Percy and Annabeth turned to look at her. "You said that you saw her, which means something important regarding her might happen in the future. The green eyes might mean that you will have something to do with this important event dealing with her. I think that's what your dream meant, Percy." Percy nodded his head.

"Makes sense," Annabeth said before turning to Percy, "What did you want to ask me?"

"Well, during the IM with Luke, he mentioned something about how you and Grover had known each other for a long time, and that Grover wouldn't make a mistake this time. What exactly did he mean?" Percy asked Annabeth, who sighed sadly.

"Luke and I were the two demigods who traveled with Thalia. Grover was the satyr assigned to guard us. I was only 7 at the time," Annabeth said.

"That explains so many things," Percy said.

"What things?" Annabeth inquired.

"Why you blush when you're around Luke; why you seem to know Thalia so well; things like that," Percy said.

"I don't blush when Luke is around!" Annabeth exclaimed angrily. Alice snorted, and Annabeth turned to glare at her.

"What?" Alice said, "You sound like you're in denial." Percy shook his head at his sister's antics.

"Well, thanks for the help, sis. I'll call you next chance I get," Percy said.

"Bye, Percy, Annabeth! Finish your quest safely!" Alice said before Percy ended the IM by swiping his hand through the rainbow. "Well, that helped to clear some things up," he said.

"Yeah. Though, I'm worried. What does she mean by Thalia will be a part of something in the future?" Annabeth asked.

"No clue. I guess we'll find out when the event comes to pass," Percy replied as Grover started to wake up.

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**This one is the chapter that has the most skipping around, so far. The fight with the furies basically went the same way it did in the book. The same goes for the Medusa incident, the Arch scene, and the rescuing of Ares' shield.**

**At this current point in time, I shall be able to regularly update at least through the first week of April. Past that, I might not be as regular. It depends on if I can get the next couple of chapters written before that point in time.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	5. 5: My Uncle, Hades

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.**

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Chapter 5: My Uncle, Hades

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had just entered Hade's palace.

"This place is impressive," Percy commented as they walked towards the throne room. The doors opened, and sitting on a throne at the other end of the room was Hades. Percy walked a couple steps in before bowing to the large god. Annabeth and Grover quickly followed his example.

"Greetings, Lord Hades," Percy said.

"Greetings, young demigods and satyr," Hades said in a booming voice. He stared at them, causing Annabeth to get nervous. "I must say, you are the most polite demigods I have had the honor of meeting," he said as he shrunk from his giant size down into his human size.

"My patron, Hera, made sure I knew how to behave in front of gods," Percy said. This caused Hades to smile.

"So you are the young demigod who has softened my sister's rough edges. She hasn't been as testy lately, and I guess it's thanks to you," Hades replied. Annabeth stared with her mouth open. She didn't expect Hades to be so welcoming to them. Then, Hades turned serious. "I hope you haven't come to blame me for stealing my brother's bolt to start a war. I don't want a war. The Underworld is crowded as it is; I don't need more spirits joining me because of a stupid war," the god of the Underworld said.

"No, sir. That is not why I came. I came to ask you if you knew anything about the thief of your brother's bolt, seeing as this was the only lead we were given." Annabeth was very impressed with how Percy handled himself around Hades. She had expected him to make Hades mad. Instead, they had gotten a mildly friendly welcome from the god.

"Look in your backpack, young demigod," he said, addressing Annabeth, who was carrying the bag Ares had given them. She opened it and pulled out the bolt. She stared at it while Percy growled.

"I knew something was up when he came to visit us," Percy grumbled under his breath.

"Whoa, dude. Are you saying we came all the way down into the Underworld for nothing?" Grover bleated.

"No. I let you pass easily into my realm because my helm has also been stolen, and I was hoping that you three would be willing to go look for it," Hades said.

"We'll look for your helmet, sir, after we return Zeus's master bolt to him. Right now, that is the more pressing matter," Percy said, and Hades nodded his head.

"Very well. Return to the surface," he said as the three of them got out the pearls given to Percy by Nereid. "Oh, and Percy, you can call me Uncle if you want to." Percy smiled at this.

"Goodbye, Uncle. We'll start searching for your helm as soon as we can!" Percy exclaimed as the broke the pearls and disappeared.

-I'm a Line Break-

Percy gave the Helm of Darkness to Alecto. Alecto smiled at Percy, which caused him to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Hades with be pleased to see it return," Alecto said as she and her sisters flew away.

"Well, that fight with Ares was unexpected, and so was finding Hades's helm so easily," Annabeth commented as Percy made a rainbow.

"What's with the rainbow?" Grover asked as Percy threw a drachma into it and turned to Grover.

"Calling in a favor from a friend. I don't want to fly home. It's too dangerous," he said to Grover before turning back to the rainbow, "O, Iris, goddess of rainbows, please accept my offering and show me Alice Sethia, wherever she may be." Alice appeared in the rainbow.

"Hello, Percy, Annabeth. Hello, satyr," she said.

"The name's Grover," Grover mumbled, not like being called satyr by the black haired girl with red highlights.

"Hi, Alice. No time to chat. I'm calling in a favor," Percy said.

"What do you need this time?" Alice said, almost exasperated.

"Can you flame us to the Empire State Building? I don't want to fly there, and no other means of transport will get us there in time," Percy said.

"Flame?" Annabeth asked.

"I can use flames to travel from place to place, as long as I have a good mental image of where I'm going. Percy, close the IM once I arrive," Alice said before she turned into flames. A flame appeared about a yard away from Percy. The flame turned into Alice, and Percy swiped his hand through the rainbow, effectively closing it.

"Nice to meet you, Grover," Alice said.

"How did you do that?" Graver asked, his mouth open wide.

"I'm a legacy of Hecate and Hestia's champion. The skill is from Hestia, but my scope of power is from Hecate," Alice said.

"Why aren't you a camper?" Grover asked her.

"I didn't want to be the odd-one-out. I would have been a legacy of a minor goddess whose patron is a former council member. Also, I didn't want to be stuck in a very crowded cabin," she replied.

"Are we going to get going now?" Annabeth asked.

"Yup. Everybody needs to hold each other's hands," she said, taking Percy's right hand with her left hand and Annabeth's left hand with her right hand. Grover grabbed Percy and Annabeth's other hand.

"Anything we need to be warned about before we flame?" Annabeth asked nervously.

"Don't let go, or you're toast. Literally," Alice said before she flamed them out of California.

They appeared in a side alley about a block away from the Empire State Building. Alice's knees buckled, and she fell. Percy caught her before she hit the ground.

"Remind me to never transport more than three other people until I can build up my reserves of power more. My body can't handle the strain," she said as Percy passed her over to Annabeth's care.

"Gotcha. I'll head up to the gods alone. Grover, Annabeth, please take Alice to her house. She can guide you there," he said as Grover helped Annabeth support Alice.

"Okay, dude. Be careful," Grover said as he and Annabeth left the alley way with Alice supported between them. Percy took a deep breath before exiting the alley, headed towards the Empire State Building.

* * *

**Hades is a nice, good person! At least, he's not necessarily bad. Here comes one of Alice's strongest powers: flaming. She won't be able to flame more than three other people comfortably until the third book or later. I don't want her to be a Mary-Sue.**

**The fight with Ares went a bit quicker than the one in the book. Next chapter will have a big change from the book, and you'll see what I mean next week.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	6. 6: Hello, Olympus

**Disclaimer: PJO no es de mi. Es de Rick Riordan. (For those of you who don't speak Spanish, that translates as 'PJO is not mine. It is Rick Riordan's.')**

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Chapter 6: Hello, Olympus

Percy hated the elevator the moment it left the first floor. It was playing old, happy music that annoyed him to no end.

"Next time, I'm having Alice flash us straight to Olympus. This music is driving me crazy," he muttered under his breath. As he stood there, his ADHD acted up, and he fidgeted a lot. At least twice he checked that the master bolt was still in his backpack, and he check that the bag was still there at least four times.

When the elevator opened, he was awe struck. He had heard his patron's description of Olympus, but he never realized exactly how beautiful it was. He stepped out of the elevator, and the door closed behind him.

"Wow…" he said as he began to walk towards the palace of the Olympians. The satyrs, naiads, and other spirits – even some minor gods – were having a good time, as if a war wasn't in the making. Only a couple of them spared him a second glance as he passed by.

When Percy entered the throne room after noting how similar the palace on Olympus looked to Hades's palace in the Underworld, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. There were only two gods present, Zeus and Poseidon. He walked up to Zeus and bowed before him.

"Lord Zeus," he said before he turned to his father, "Lord Poseidon."

"Rise, boy," Zeus commanded, and Percy complied. As Zeus inspected him, Percy sneaked a look at his father, who was sitting calmly on his throne.

"Give me my master bolt," commanded the King of the Gods. Percy pulled the bolt out of the backpack and bowed, offering the bolt to Zeus in his outstretched hands.

"Here you go, sir," Percy said respectfully. Zeus took the bolt from Percy before disappearing without a word. Percy straightened up and turned to his father.

"It is good to see you, Percy," Poseidon said as he shrunk into his human form.

"It is good to see you too, Father. Zeus seemed very quiet," Percy commented after giving Poseidon a hug.

"He doesn't want to admit that he's impressed with what you have achieved. And he doesn't want to face the fact that his wife chose one of my children as her champion rather than one of his own," Poseidon replied.

"Has he figured out that Hera's change in personality is thanks to me yet?" Percy inquired of his father. Poseidon shook his head no and laughed. His laugh was a warm sound that Percy enjoyed hearing.

"No, He is still too confused at her behavior to figure out its cause," Poseidon said before turning serious, "He also didn't talk to you much because he doesn't want to admit that Kronos is trying to rise from the pit. Thank you, Percy, for the warning that you sent me after your experience with the pit." The experience Poseidon was talking about was still clear in Percy's mind. Grover had been pulled towards Tartarus thanks to the flying shoes he was wearing, shoes that were given to Percy by Luke and gifted to Grover by Percy. They had heard a cold laughter coming from the pit as Grover was being pulled in. After he and Annabeth had rescued Grover, Percy immediately IMed Poseidon to tell him what had happened.

"You're welcome. I wanted to warn you ahead of time. I have a feeling that you, Aunt Hera, Auntie Hestia, and any other Olympians who believe you will have a hard time convincing him. He seems to be very stubborn." Poseidon smiled at that.

"Yes, and very dramatic. Now, it is time for you to return to camp. Alice has been safely returned home, and Annabeth and Grover are almost to camp. There are no monsters near them, so they should be able to arrive safely." Percy smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Father." He turned and left the palace. Poseidon disappeared after he had lost sight of his son.

-Yo soy un rompedor de las líneas-

When Percy arrived at camp, everybody welcomed him back. It was a hero's welcome. They burned the shrouds that had been made for them. They partied, and they had fun, but there was still one thing that bothered Percy. He just had to find the right time to do it.

-Yo soy un rompedor de las líneas-

Annabeth never expected herself to cursing Luke. She had always found Luke to be a great guy; she never expected him to be the traitor. Percy had been stabilized by Chiron after collapsing from the scorpion poison in his blood.

"Chiron, will he be able to make it?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

"He should. He has a strong constitution, and we managed to get to him before the poison was too far along," Chiron replied. Annabeth nodded her head. Percy was waiting for Alice to come pick him up when he had gotten side tracked by Luke. Said side track nearly cost him his life, and Annabeth hoped that Alice wouldn't get here until after he had awoken. She didn't want to have to deal with a worried Alice.

Percy stirred and opened his eyes. He groaned, and Annabeth helped him to sit up. She handed him some nectar.

"Here, drink," she said. He nodded and downed it in a gulp.

"I'm not going to ask why my brother is in the sick bay, seeing as he's fine right now, and our mother will interrogate him later," Alice said, having just entered the room. Annabeth turned to her.

"Yeah, sorry. Luke turned out to be a traitor, and Percy didn't realize until it was too late that nobody knew where he had gone," Annabeth said as she and Alice helped Percy out of his bed.

"Come on, Percy, let's go home so you can rest and rejuvenate," Alice said, grabbing his bags and flashing the two of them out as Annabeth waved goodbye.

"Well, I should get my stuff. My family should be here soon," Annabeth said. After learning about her relationship with her family after they had finished their quest, Percy convinced her to talk things over with them and try to fix the ruined bond between them. Annabeth should have seen that coming. Percy was the champion of the goddess of marriage/family after all. Annabeth got her bags and exited her cabin. She saw her family and waved to them.

'Well, here goes nothing,' she thought as she left Camp Half-Blood with her family, anxious about being with her family after everything that had happened between them.

* * *

**Yes, I speak Spanish, but I'm not a native speaker. (I got bored, so that's why those parts are in Spanish.) I just realized that I can actually have Leo speak in Spanish (once we get to HOO) without having to use Google Translate and mess up the language.****  
**

**On another note, you probably noticed how differently things happened in this fic than in the book. It was meant to be this way. If you have any questions, either review with the question or PM me with the question.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	7. 7: Sibling Bonding Time

**Dislcaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.**

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Chapter 7: Sibling Bonding Time

The last day of school had ended without any incidents of note. Percy walked home from school with Alice, her hair sporting green highlights.

"So, do you want to train?" Alice asked after they had arrived home. Percy nodded. They went down into the basement of their house, which their parents had turned into a training room for them.

"Do you want to have a sword fight or do you want to do something else?" Percy questioned his sister as she grabbed some practice clothes.

"I'd love a good sword fight," Alice replied as she disappeared into her changing room.

"Okay," Percy yelled as he grabbed his practice clothes, went into his changing room, and began to change.

"Can I dual wield for this battle?" Alice said asked after having changed. Percy nodded his head as he came out of his changing room in his training clothes.

"Yes. I'm going to use Riptide," he said as she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. Alice nodded her head yes. Riptide, or Anaklusmos, was the sword Chiron had given him when he left on the quest to rescue Zeus's master bolt. It took the form of a pen when not in use, and it always returned to his pocket. Alice went over to their weapons cabinet and pulled out two identical practice swords. She practiced couple of slashes with them before she went over to their fighting arena.

"Ready?" She asked, and he nodded his head. "3, 2, 1, Go!" Alice yelled, and they began to fight each other.

Percy slashed at her with Riptide, and she blocked the slash with her right blade, spun on her heel, and aimed a slash at him with her other blade. Percy jumped back and aimed another slash at her, bringing his blade over his head and down onto her. She crossed her blades and caught his blade at the area where her blades crossed. She used her left blade to move Percy's out of the way as she jumped back out of his reach.

"Nice move," Percy said as he became a whirlwind of slashes, causing his sister to go on the defense. She blocked his slashes with alternating blades, trying to get her own attack in with the other blade.

"Damn you and your whirlwinds," Alice said after Percy has disarmed one of her blades. She gripped the other tightly in her right hand and began to go on the offensive. Percy blocked her attacks with both his hands on his sword, Riptide shimmering in the light of the training room.

"Damn you and your duel wielding," he snarked right back as she furiously slashed away at him. Percy waited for the right moment before exploding out at her with a vicious barrage of slashes. Alice was, once again, back to fighting defensively. Percy managed to hook his sword around her sword and disarm her. He whipped his sword around to point his sword at her neck and claim a victory to only find empty air. Alice had ducked, and she rolled away from him before standing up. He came at her with his sword, hoping to get the victory before she overpowered him with her martial arts. After about 5 minutes of Alice avoiding his sword, and him avoiding her punches and kicks, he finally managed to get his sword to her neck.

"And the victory is mine," he said, breathing heavily. Alice nodded, breathing as heavily as Percy was.

"That was a good fight," Alice said as she disappeared into the changing room to grab her clothes, "Now, it's shower time!" Percy laughed and also grabbed his clothes. They went upstairs together and went their separate ways when they reached their rooms.

-I'm a Line Break-

Percy dragged his sister out of her room after she had finished her shower. She was in a gothic-styled knee-length black dress with her hair done up in high pig tails.

"Again with the gothic clothes, dear sister of mine?" Percy questioned with a smirk on his face. Alice stuck her tongue out at him.

"I happen to like them very much," Alice said as she walked into the kitchen, "What do you want for a snack?"

"Surprise me," he replied as he sat down at one of the stools at the kitchen counter.

"Okay," she said. Sometimes when she made snacks, they were weird experiments that made Percy raise an eyebrow at her, but she knew that, after training, he didn't want any of her weird concoctions.

"Fruit smoothie and bread sound good to you?" Alice inquired of her brother.

"Yes," Percy said as somebody knocked on the front door, "I got it, Mom!" Percy opened the door to find Annabeth standing there.

"Percy, thank god you're still here. I was afraid that you had already left for camp," she said, confusing Percy.

"Is that Annabeth? Let her in! She can have a smoothie if she wants," Alice called from the kitchen as she began to cut the ingredients for her banana berry smoothie.

"Smoothie?" Annabeth questioned as she took off her shoes. Percy smiled and led her into the kitchen.

"My sister is an aspiring cook. She says that it's Hestia's influence," Percy replied as he helped Annabeth onto one of the stools before getting up onto the one next to hers.

"Thanks to the gifts Hestia gave me, I can summon any home cooked meal. I decided that I wanted to be able to cook my own meals and not just summon ones made by Hestia's power," Alice explained before Annabeth could even open her mouth to ask what Percy meant. Alice started blending the smoothie as she put a piece of bread on each of the three plates she had pulled out.

"What brings you here, Annabeth?" Percy asked as he grabbed a plate for himself and passed one to Annabeth. He put some Nutella on his piece of bread, and Annabeth did the same.

"We're having issues at camp," Annabeth said as Alice finished blending the smoothie, and she poured the smoothie into three separate glassing, giving one to Percy and another to Annabeth.

"What type of issues?" Alice inquired as she took a sip of her smoothie. Percy noticed that Alice was acting as if she had seen something about to happen, and he frowned slightly.

"The barrier protecting the camp is weakening," Annabeth said, causing all movement in the room to stop.

"Oh. That is a major issue," Percy said, causing Alice to face palm and Annabeth to stare at him incredulously. Then she opened her mouth and said the worst news of all.

"You don't get it, do you, Seaweed Brain. Thalia's tree has been poisoned."

* * *

**This chapter has the first appearance of cussing, which is one of the reasons why this story is rated T. There might be a bit of blood, but the T rating is mainly from cussing.**

**I don't have anything else to say, except that I really would like it if you all reviewed. Reviews make the world go 'round.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	8. 8: Drop-Off at Camp

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Drop-Off at Camp

Alice sat in the front of the car next to her mom, who was driving. Percy and Annabeth were sitting in the back of the car. They were heading towards Camp Half-Blood. According to Annabeth, they had discovered the poisoning recently, and Zeus had blamed one of the only people who everybody else was 100% sure didn't do it, Chiron.

"If you guys are getting a replacement activities director, then I'm not coming. Sorry, but I don't want to risk anything," Alice said, looking over her shoulder at the two demigods sitting behind her.

"It's okay, Alice, but have you seen anything?" Annabeth asked. The daughter of Athena had kept in regular contact with the Sethia family, and she and Alice had grown to be great friends. At first, it was weird hearing Alice predict the future creepily accurately, but she got used to it after the first 10 or so times Alice predicted something.

Alice frowned slightly and then replied, "I haven't had anything clear. I need the name of the healing item that a quest will be sent after to get a better reading."

"An all healing item… the Golden Fleece!" Percy exclaimed suddenly. Alice and Annabeth stared at him.

"Of course," Alice muttered as she pulled out one of her tarot decks. She had numerous decks on her at all times. The smallest amount Percy had ever seen her with was two decks, an oracle card deck and a full 72 card deck. The one she pulled out now was an oracle deck with girls and animals. She pulled the cards out and began to shuffle them.

"The Golden Fleece would be an amazing find, if we could find it," Annabeth said as Alice began to use the cards to get a glimpse of the future.

"The first card: something unexpected has occurred," Alice said, staring at the cards in her lap.

"Makes sense. We never expected Thalia's tree to be poisoned," Annabeth commented as Alice turned over the next card.

"The second card: lost magic to be found," Alice said.

"The Golden Fleece," Percy commented.

"The third card: a world of monsters," Alice said, finishing her reading.

"That one I don't know," Annabeth said with a small frown marring her face.

"A world of monsters, huh? Is it talking about the Sea of Monsters?" Quinn Sethia commented, her eyes focused on the road ahead of her. Her children and their friend turned to stare at her.

"Of course, the Sea of Monsters! It must be held there by a monster," Annabeth exclaimed as Quinn stopped near the border.

"No more time to talk! It looks like they're under attack! I'll see you later. Call if you need help!" Alice said. Percy and Annabeth quickly exited the car and ran to camp. They saw a group of campers fighting two bronze bulls. Annabeth let out a breath.

"The Colchis bulls. Be warned, they breathe fire," Annabeth said as they ran into the battle. Annabeth put on her invisibility cap, a gift from her mother, and started attacking the bulls. Percy uncapped Riptide.

"Border patrol to me!" A girl's voice called. It was Clarisse, a daughter of Ares who had a love-hate relationship with Percy. Sometimes they were friends, other times they were enemies. Percy started slashing at the bulls, protecting one of the campers as he did so. He ducked under a breath of flames and leaped onto the bulls back.

"Percy, the neck!" Annabeth called from wherever she was, and he stabbed his sword down at its neck. The Colchis bull roared and bucked Percy off. Percy flipped in the air and landed on his feet, twisting his ankle as he did so.

"Annabeth, help Clarisse with the other one! I'll protect the other campers," he said as he shakily stood up. He put weight on his twisted left foot and winced. He watched as the other bull was scared away by a combination of Clarisse's violent spear slashes and Annabeth's invisible knife attacks.

"Percy, you're hurt!" Annabeth exclaimed after she had pulled her cap off. She ran to him, and supported his left side.

"I'm fine. Alice has caused worse," Percy muttered through clenched teeth.

"Just because you've had worse doesn't meant that it doesn't hurt, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said before helping him to the infirmary. Clarisse followed behind with the other campers who had fought the bulls, who were her cabin mates.

"Good job with that bull, Prissy," Clarisse said, "but you need to work on your landings." Percy was laid in a bed, and an Apollo camper started healing his foot.

"Good job too, Clarisse," Percy said to her as he was fed some ambrosia. They heard hooves on the floor, and they turned to look at Chiron.

"Chiron! I thought that Zeus kicked you out of camp!" Annabeth exclaimed, smiling brightly at him.

"He did. I just finished packing my stuff up," Chiron replied, and Annabeth's face fell.

"Oh, okay. Where are you going?" she inquired.

"I'm going to be staying with the other centaurs, the Party Ponies," Chiron replied, earning a raised eyebrow from Percy.

"The Party Ponies?" he questioned.

"Yeah, they can get a bit crazy," Chiron replied sheepishly before turning seriously, "I'm leaving camp in your hands, Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse. My replacement is not one of Zeus's smarter decisions. He might be a bit hard to deal with."

"Thank you for the honor of being in charge of camp," Percy said respectfully. Clarisse scoffed.

"Just don't get in my way, Prissy," Clarisse muttered, sending a pointed look at Percy. Percy just smiled cheerful at her.

"Please don't start fighting here, you two," Annabeth said before turning back to Chiron, "Who is your replacement?"

"Tantalus," Chiron replied before galloping out of the room, leaving the three of them stunned.

"This will either be a really interesting or a really horrible experience. I'm hoping for the former, but the latter with probably happen, knowing my luck," Percy said, getting a playful smack from Annabeth.

"Don't say things like that," she scolded him. Clarisse watched them with a small smile on her face. It wouldn't take long for them to realize exactly how accurate Percy's prediction was.

* * *

**This is the last already-written chapter I have, so next week, which is also my spring break, I'm going to write a whole bunch of chapters, so I can continue to update fairly regularly.**

**If any of you see any mistakes, please tell me. As always, review make the world go 'round.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	9. 9: Not My Quest

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Not My Quest

Percy stared out over the water. He knew that he shouldn't be sitting here, since it was past curfew, but he needed to clear his mind. Clarisse had been chosen by Tantalus to lead a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Sea of Monsters after an eventful chariot race.

"Isn't it beautiful out here?" somebody said next to Percy, and the young demigod turned to look at his companion. Percy stood up quickly and bowed.

"Lord Hermes, it is an honor to meet you," the son of Poseidon said respectfully, straightening his back to stare up into the face of the god of messengers.

"No need to be so formal, Percy. You can just call me Hermes, though I can see that the Sethia family has been a good influence on you," the god said, causing the demigod to stare at him.

"How do you know about my adoption? I thought that my father and patron tried as hard as they could to keep that fact a secret," Percy said. Hermes smiled slightly at that.

"I am the god of messengers, travelers, and thieves. It is hard to hide things from me, though your father and your patron already know that I know of your adoption." Percy let out a quiet sigh of relief. Percy's face twisted as if he was making a hard decision before he spoke again.

"There must be some reason why you're here, and it's obvious not the topic of my adoption." Hermes laughed at that and patted Percy on the shoulder.

"I like your humor," he said with a smile on his face before he turned serious. "I know that you want to go rescue the Fleece. You're worried about the camp and Thalia, even though you haven't met the lovely lady." The comment about Thalia earned an expression from Percy that said 'Really?' which Hermes laughed at.

"I'm worried that Clarisse won't be back in time, and that the barrier will fall before we have the chance to fix it." Hermes nodded his head before he pulled out his phone from his pocket, which had two snakes wrapped around the antenna.

"Almost forgot I put you on vibrate." Which Hermes promptly turned off, and the two snakes began speaking into Percy's mind.

_Hermes, you have Demeter on line two, _a feminine voice said.

"Tell her I'm in the middle of a meeting or something," Hermes replied. "George, Martha, say hello."

_Hello, George, Martha, _a raspy male voice.

_Really, George, really? _Martha responded. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"I like the snakes. They must add a bit of personality to what must be a fairly boring job," Percy commented, causing the god and his two snakes to burst out laughing. Percy smiled at them.

"I really like your humor," Hermes finally manages to get out after laughing for a bit. The snakes are still snickering quietly as Hermes composes himself.

_Do you have any rats? I'm hungry after laughing,_ George commented, getting a glare from Martha, if that was possible.

"Anyways," Hermes said, completely ignoring George's comment, "I have something for you, Percy. Martha, can you give me the first package please?" Percy watched as Martha opened her mouth until it was as wide as his arm and belched out a stainless steel thermos. Percy caught it.

"Is this from that _Hercules Busts Heads_ show my dad keeps saying you're obsessed with?" Hermes smiled really wide.

"Yes. First season collector's item. Sadly, I don't have the lunch box that goes along with it," Hermes said, trailing off at the end before shaking his head and getting back on track.

"It seems like a compass," Percy commented under his breath.

"Never thought of it like that. It holds winds from the four corners of the earth. Only open it a little bit, or they'll all come out at once."

"Thank you."

"That's only part one of the gift. The second part, if you would, George."

_Give me a second. She's touching me!_ George complained as Martha hissed at him and started chasing around the antenna. Hermes sighed.

"You two are always touching. And stop that! You'll get tangled again." It was George's turn to open up his mouth really wide, but he belched out a small plastic bottle with vitamins, which Percy caught.

"Are these special vitamins or do you just want me to eat more vitamins?" Percy asked the god, who laughed again.

"Special. They're really potent, and don't take one unless you really need it."

"Again, thank you, Lord Hermes."

"I told you that you can drop the 'Lord' part."

"I'll try to remember that," Percy replied sheepishly. "Is there anything else?" Hermes sighed and stared out at the water, like Percy had been doing before the god had made an appearance.

"If you run into my wayward son…" Hermes began but then trailed off. He sighed then started again. "If you see him, can you try to save him?" Percy nodded his head.

"I will try my best, but I may be unable to do so." Hermes smiled at him again.

"Thank you. Even though he has hurt you, you're still going to try your hardest." At that, Percy smiled back at Hermes.

"He's family, and I won't give up on family. Family is everything." Hermes hummed in agreement.

"Thank you for understanding." Hermes waved his arm, and three obnoxiously yellow, waterproof duffel bags appeared by Percy's side. "For you and your traveling companions. Take the cruise ship out there," the god said, pointing to the ship out on the water. "It should get you where you need to go." With that last comment, he was gone, off to do his godly duties. Percy stared at the gifts in his hands, a small frown etched on his face.

"I'm guessing this means we're going on a quest," he muttered under his breath as Annabeth and another person ran towards Percy. He smiled sheepishly at them. "Sorry, Annabeth, but we're not getting a break this time 'round."

"I never asked for a break, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied. The person next to her smiled at the two of them.

"So, when are we leaving?" Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate and Percy and Alice's classmate, asked, a smirk on her face.

* * *

**I bet you guys weren't expecting Lou Ellen to show up so early in the story. Well, I like Lou, and I thought it would be funny if she ended up going to Alice and Percy's school. (There's going to be a really funny comment later on about Alice and Lou along the lines of "But she's [Lou] your [Alice's] aunt!" which causes half of the people in the room to laugh.)**

**This one has a lot of humor in it. Sorry in advance about any errors. I began this chapter a bit ago, and I just finished it today. Don't forget: Reviews Make the World Go 'Round!**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	10. 10: The Sea of Monsters

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.**

* * *

Chapter 10: The Sea of Monsters

The little lifeboat sped across the water, going faster than was physically possible. Well, physically possible without winds from the four corners of the earth. Annabeth clung on tightly with one hand while Lou was sitting cross-legged in the center of the small lifeboat, using magic to keep herself from getting tossed overboard. Percy leaned up against the side of the boat, using his weight to keep himself from falling overboard.

"We should Iris Message Chiron," Annabeth commented after she had finally figured out that she didn't have to hold onto the lifeboat really tightly.

"Sounds like a good idea," Lou responded, pulling a drachma out of her shoe. Annabeth and Percy stared at her.

"You keep drachmas in your shoe?" Annabeth asked the daughter of Hecate, who just shrugged her shoulders.

"It was the only logical place at the time. Don't ask; it's a long story, and we don't have the time right now," she replied, tossing the drachma into the rainbow that Percy had created while the two girls had been conversing about Lou's placement of money. And then the call with Chiron began.

_-Line Break-_

Annabeth led Percy and Lou to one of the old hideouts that she had used when she was on the run with Thalia and Luke. As usual, Percy's bad luck struck again.

"Monster Donut?" he questioned the daughter of Athena.

"It really shouldn't be here," she responded. "This is bad."

"Bad as in monster bad?" he responded. She didn't have time to respond as a hydra came out of the woods, one of their yellow duffel bags in its mouth.

"Aww, I liked those duffel bags," Lou complained quietly, getting a light smack on the head from Percy. Annabeth turned and glared at the two of them goofing off and was about to tell them to stop it when the hydra loomed over them.

"One word: run!" Percy exclaimed.

_-Line Break-_

Percy didn't want to admit it out loud, but he was really glad that Clarisse had shown up when she did. She had helped them out with the hydra, which didn't want to be killed. Thankfully, Clarisse had shown up with enough firepower to blast the thing into oblivion. Of course, now he, Annabeth, and Lou were stuck on a ship with dead Confederate soldiers and an annoyed daughter of the god of war.

"Prissy," Clarisse said, leaning against the railing of the ship. Percy, who was also leaning against the railing of the ship, turned to look at her.

"Is there something you want?" he asked her.

"Why did you leave the camp to go on an unauthorized quest? You have no real connection to anything going on here," the daughter of war asked, turning to stare out at the water rushing past the steamship.

"I was worried, really worried. What would happen if you couldn't make it back in time to save Thalia? What would happen if you couldn't get the fleece? Things like that were running through my head, and I couldn't focus on anything else," Percy replied, ignoring the glare he got for the comment about her not getting the fleece. "And I didn't want to deal with the annoying new activities director." That comment cause Clarisse to grin.

"I hate Tantalus too."

"Join the club," Lou said, coming up behind the two chatting demigods. Clarisse spun to look at the daughter of Hecate while Percy glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Well, I hate him too, but we're approaching the entrance to the Sea of Monsters. We better get ready," Annabeth said, standing next to the others, pointing at something that was approaching.

* * *

**Sorry for not updating for so long, but I had things to do. Such as school. I had a ton of school work to do. And I really didn't know what to put in this chapter, hence it's shortness, it's horribleness, and it's fillerness.**

**I know points that I want to write. The hard part is getting there. Basically, I already know what's going to happen next chapter. I just didn't know what to put into this chapter to get there.**

**A big thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chapter. The next chapter will probably be out next Thursday and not this Thursday. Sorry, but it's easier for me that way.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	11. 11: Circe

**Dislcaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan does.**

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Chapter 11: Circe

Percy lay on the small raft with all the things that Annabeth had managed to salvage from the ship before it went down. He only wished that they had been able to get to Lou before she had disappeared off in a different direction. Though, he figured that the daughter of Hecate could take care of herself, for she was very proficient in magic.

"We've been out here for hours," he complained as he shaded his eyes from the bright sunlight. Annabeth sighed.

"I know. You've mentioned it at least 10 times already," Annabeth responded, stretching her arms. Percy sat up and grabbed the bottle of Dr. Pepper they had been sharing and took a small sip from it.

"If we don't find something in the next hour or so, I'm just going to IM Alice and get her to get us out of here," Percy commented, offering the bottle of Dr. Pepper to Annabeth. She took from him and took a sip.

"That sounds…" she started, trailing off when she saw something in the distance. Her eyes widened.

"What?" Percy asked, confused at Annabeth's sudden pause. Annabeth turned and smiled at him.

"I see land," she said, pointing to the thin line of land that was beginning to grow bigger. I smiled happily as the current began to draw our raft closer to the island. Soon enough, we could see a small mountain, a beach with palm trees, a harbor with an odd group of boats, and a collection of white buildings. It looked like paradise in Percy's tired mind.

_-Line Break-_

As Percy and Annabeth were lead deeper into the building by the attendant dressed in blue, Percy kept feeling something was wrong. From what he could tell, Annabeth seemed completely at ease with what was going on; usually it was the other way around.

"Annabeth, do you –" Percy started before he was cut off by the attendant, who smiled a dazzling smile at the son of Poseidon.

"We're almost to C.C. You can speak with her then," the attendant said, earning a raised eyebrow from Percy and a big smile from Annabeth. Percy frowned. There was definitely something off about this place if Annabeth was acting like this.

As the attendant led them up a flight of stairs, a woman's voice singing in an ancient language – possibly Minoan, but not Ancient Greek – drifted through the air. It was beautiful, and Percy almost lost himself in it, but he shook it off. Mind magic had little effect on Percy, thanks to him being Hera's champion. He rarely used the abilities he had as Hera's champion, since most of said abilities weren't combat-oriented; they protected his mind from mind magic and gave him a couple other little helpful abilities that he could use outside of combat. He used his powers as a son of Poseidon for combat, so he had never really minded that his other powers weren't combat-oriented. But this time, he was thankful for the added protection it gave him. He would never tell Annabeth, but the only reason he fell for Medusa was because he was extremely hungry and wanted food.

The three of them entered a large room with windows at the front and mirrors at the back, which made it seem as if the room went on and on. The furniture strewn around the room was white in color and looked expensive. The one thing that seemed out of place was a large wire pet cage. The singer sat at a large loom, about the size of a big screen TV, and the tapestry she was weaving seemed to be in three dimensions.

As Annabeth fawned over the tapestry and conversed with the weaver, Percy tried to figure out what was in the cage. He was slowly trying to scoot closer to it when C.C.'s attention turned towards him.

"You haven't introduced yourself to dear C.C. yet," she cooed softly, as if trying to entice Percy with her magic. Squeals sounded from the cage, and Percy thought the squeals sounded as if they were from guinea pigs.

"Oh, forgive me, ma'am," Percy said, forcing himself to be polite so that C.C. wouldn't think that he wasn't under her power. "I'm Percy." She seemed to give him a look of disapproval as she sighed.

"Oh, dear. You do need my help. Hylla was right to bring you here," she said, and Percy got the feeling that she was going to do something bad. Percy just nodded his head. C.C. smiled at him before sending Annabeth of with Hylla. C.C. lightly grabbed Percy's arm and dragged him over to the mirror. As Percy stared into the mirror and C.C. talked his ear off, he was busy trying to figure out who C.C. was.

"Hmm, yeah," Percy said, responding to a question of C.C.'s that he heard half of. He thought about the guinea pigs and then connected those to pigs. While he thought of pigs, C.C. handed him a glass that looked like a strawberry milkshake. Suddenly, he remembered who pigs could be related to.

"Circe," he muttered quietly as he swished the drink around.

"Huh?" Circe asked, looking over her shoulder at who she was hoping to turn into her newest guinea pig.

"Sorry, ma'am. I'm just thinking out loud," Percy replied, trying to figure out a way to stall drinking what Circe had given him. He slipped a hand into his pocket, which bumped into the bottle of the multivitamins that Hermes had given him. He had put that in there earlier and had completely forgotten about them.

"Drink up, dear, or you'll stay the same," Circe said soothingly, starting to catch onto the fact that Percy wasn't affected by her mind magic.

"Does this have dairy in it? I'm lactose-intolerant," Percy quickly lied as he started to quietly unscrew the lid of the bottle of multivitamins in his pocket. "If it does have dairy in it, I need to take some medicine real quickly." Circe blinked; she hadn't expected that.

"Go ahead and take your medicine, but once you drink up, I'm sure you won't have to worry about any lactose problems." Percy nearly winced at her sickly sweet tone but hid it as he grabbed one of the vitamins from the bottle. He quickly stuffed it in his and chewed it quickly.

"Thanks. I'd rather not get sick; it's never fun," he said after he had swallowed the grape-flavored vitamin. She smiled at him again, and he drank what she had given him. He was impressed with her magic; it actually tasted like a strawberry milkshake. It did nothing. Circe growled.

"What did you do, you foolish boy!" she nearly snarled at Percy as he struggled to grab Riptide from his pocket. She was about to throw a spell at him when Annabeth's voice carried over from the hallway.

"Miss C.C.?" the daughter of Athena inquired, stepping into the room as she did so. By that point in time, Circe was smiling at Percy as if nothing had gone wrong.

"Yes, Annabeth? Did something happen?" she inquired sweetly. Percy wanted to stare opened mouth at Annabeth – she looked beautiful and nothing like herself – but managed to control himself.

"Oh, I was just wondering –" she started when Percy cut her off by drawing Riptide, which almost seemed to have a white glow around it. She frowned lightly. "Percy, why did you draw your sword? There's nothing wrong." Percy sighed.

"C.C., Annabeth. She's Circe," he said, and this time, Circe actually snarled at him. She drew blue fire in her hand and threw it at Annabeth, who was staring at them with a surprised look on her face. Percy thrust himself in front of her and took the attack. Annabeth stared at Percy, horrified at what would happen to him, only to realize that he hadn't changed at all.

"How the Hades are you throwing off my magic?" she said, frustrated at her lack of effectiveness against Percy. He pulled the bottle of multivitamins out of his pocket and showed it to her with a smirk on his face.

"Multivitamins from Hermes," Percy said simply, which seemed to enrage Circe even more.

"Those things are such a stupid fad! They do absolutely nothing for you!" she ranted as Percy passed Annabeth the bottle of multivitamins as stealthily as he could.

"Well, they work for me," Percy said as Circe's attendants appeared in the doorway. Annabeth quickly grabbed a lemon vitamin and ate it. She pulled out her knife and was ready to fight beside Percy. He took the bottle of vitamins back from her, pressing his fingers against the back of her hand as he did so. A mark briefly glowed white on her hand before vanishing. Annabeth raised her hand to stare at the unblemished skin.

"What was that?" she asked as the attendants started to close in on them.

"Not now. Distract Circe while I deal with her assistants," Percy said before racing over to stop the attendants from closing in on them. Annabeth went to deal with Circe. After a bit of fighting with the sorceress, Annabeth managed to knock her unconscious with the hilt of her dagger. She turned to help Percy to find the attendants glowing white and his hand also glowing the same color.

"What the Hades is that?" she asked after they had stopped glowing. The attendants seemed a bit confused while Percy was breathing heavily. He smiled sheepishly at her and opened his mouth to say something when Hylla spoke.

"What is going on here? Circe was nice. I don't understand why –" Hylla started, but Percy cut her off.

"Don't dawdle. Take one of the transportation vehicles out of here. I'm assuming that the guinea pigs that are left aren't pleasant; I'm releasing them to keep Circe busy for a bit while we all escape. I don't want any of you to get caught up in that. The white light was a blessing; until you find your family and the place where you will flourish, you will have some protection against those that oppose you. Now go!" he said, and the attendants fled. He started to fall over, but Annabeth caught him before he hit the ground.

"Is that what you put on me?" she asked as Percy hand her the bottle of multivitamins and gestured for her to give them to the guinea pigs in the cage. She did as he asked, and as the guinea pigs began to turn into Blackbeard and his crew, she slung his arm across her shoulder and her arm across his shoulder. They were halfway down the stairs by the time Blackbeard and his crew had shook Circe awake and began tearing things apart.

"Yours was to keep Circe's mind magic from working on you," he finally said as he guided them onto the old, three-masted sailing ship. He used his son of Poseidon skills to guide the ship away from the island even though he was still leaning against Annabeth. "Let me get us underway, and then I'll explain some more," he said as they heard the angry calls from Blackbeard's crew, for they had owned this ship before Percy stole it.

"Sounds like a plan," Annabeth replied, still supporting Percy as they set off into the Sea of Monsters.

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**Back from hiatus! You won't be able to find the AN that said I was going on hiatus because I deleted it.**

**This is the longest chapter yet, which I'm very happy with. This showcases a bit of what Percy is able to do as Hera's champion. What happened here will affect how Reyna will view Percy later on when he will appear in Camp Jupiter (yes, this fanfic does go through the Heroes of Olympus series).**

**And yes, I am going back to my weekly updates. It's summer now, so I have more free time now than I did before. A big thanks to you all for waiting patiently for me to come off hiatus.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	12. 12: Explanations and Sirens

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does.**

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Chapter 12: Explanations and Sirens

Percy finally relaxed when Circe's island was no longer in sight. He was surprised at how fast the sailing ship was going – ten knots, which is pretty darn fast for a sailing ship – and surprised at how well he could sail the ship. Then again, he was a son of Poseidon.

"So, are you going to explain to me what happened at Circe's island or not, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, looking a bit uncomfortable. Percy nodded and walked over to her. He sat down and gestured for Annabeth to join him. She did, though she looked a bit queasy.

"Well, where should I start this?" Percy asked after a couple seconds of thought.

"How about anything related to your powers as Hera's champion," Annabeth commented, still looking a bit queasy.

"Okay. Well, as you know, as Hera's champion, I can use some of her powers along with those I have as a son of Poseidon. Poseidon's powers are more combat-based, as you saw when I fought Ares last summer, so you see those more often than Hera's powers because Hera's powers aren't really combat-based. With those powers, I usually can protect my mind from mind-magic like the enchantments Circe had," Percy explained, gesturing with his hands as he did so, "which is why I used said powers to protect you from being put under Circe's enchantments again."

"And what about what you did for her assistants that were there?"

"As I said then, it was a blessing to help protect them until they found a family and the place where they would flourish. I didn't want to leave them defenseless in a world where they were unsure of where to go and what to do." Annabeth leaned over and hugged him. Percy stared at her with a confused expression. Annabeth saw his expression, smiled at him, and then shook her head at his silliness.

"You're such a nice, selfless, and loyal person, Percy," Annabeth said, looking the son of Poseidon in the eyes. "I'm glad that I'm your friend, even if you can be a bit of a Seaweed Brain." Percy smiled at Annabeth and then gave her a hug, which she accepted with a smile on her face.

"Glad to see that you think of me in such a good light, Wise Girl." Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy's impish commented, and the two of them continued to chat until Annabeth decided to retire, for sea voyages weren't really her thing. During their chat, Annabeth told Percy the story of the run in she, Luke, Thalia, and Grover had on their way to camp when Annabeth was seven.

_-Line Break-_

Annabeth was awoken by Percy shaking her. She sat up groggily.

"Huh, what?" she managed to say after just sitting there staring at Percy for a couple of seconds. "Did you have a nightmare or something?" she asked him after another minute of her getting her bearings.

"Well, yes," he said, and she gave him a 'did you really just wake me up because you had a stupid nightmare?' look. He quickly added on to his previous statement, "but that wasn't what I woke you up for."

"Then what did you wake me up for?" Annabeth asked, looking mildly murderous because she didn't enjoy being woken up randomly.

"I had a dream with Thalia in it. This time, her eyes were the right color." Annabeth became serious at this comment. As Percy described the dream to Annabeth, a small frown etched itself onto her face as she thought about Percy's dream.

"I wish Alice was here," Percy commented wistfully, seemingly unaware of Annabeth being distracted. "I mean, she would be able to tell what my dream meant. Or at least guess what my dream meant."

"My guess would be that Thalia's going to play a big role in the future," Annabeth said after a couple minutes of thought. Percy nodded his head in agreement and opened his mouth to say something when Annabeth cut him off.

"I see land in the distance," she said, narrowing her eyes as she peered at the distant land.

"So?" Percy inquired, curious as to why land was such a big thing. After the incident on Circe's island, Percy wasn't so sure he wanted to know what other monsters were hiding out on islands dotted around the Sea of Monsters.

"It's the island of the Sirens," Annabeth said matter-of-factly, and Percy groaned. He really didn't want to have to deal with Sirens.

"I'm pretty sure I saw a tub of candle wax below deck," Percy said and rushed off to get the tub before Annabeth could respond. She just stared after him.

"Did he not want me to complain or talk him into letting me do something crazy?" she asked herself out loud, not realizing that she had hit the nail on the head.

_-Line Break-_

"Remind me to never let you talk me into letting you do stupid things again," Percy said after he and Annabeth were back on the ship and safely out of range of the siren's song.

"I'm sorry! I was really interested in seeing what the sirens had to show me," Annabeth exclaimed, and Percy was tempted to roll his eyes at her response.

"Well, at least you're safe…" Percy said, trailing off at the end as he saw land in the distance and began to feel the pull of the wild magic of the Golden Fleece.

"What is it?" Annabeth inquired, turning to see what Percy was staring at.

"We're here," Percy said. "Now all we have to do is get the Golden Fleece."

"Easier said than done, Seaweed Brain. Easier said than done," Annabeth responded. Her comment hit the nail on the head; this wasn't going to be an easy task.

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**Halfway through this I decided that I wasn't going to bother writing them actually retrieving the fleece, so the next chapter will pick up sometime after they get out of the Sea of Monsters. Titan's Curse is coming up soon, which I'm excited about since I love that book.**

**Anyways, reviews are highly appreciated (seriously, reviews make my day). See you next week for the next chapter!**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	13. 13: The Golden Fleece

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson and the Olympians, not me. Therefore, it doesn't belong to me.**

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Chapter 13: The Golden Fleece

"And to our surprise, Grover was in a wedding dress in the cave along with Clarisse, who was tied up and dangling upside down over a pot filled with boiling water," Percy said, telling the story of how the Golden Fleece was retrieved to Alice as she listened quietly from the other side of the Iris Message.

"What was Grover doing there?" Alice inquired of her brother.

"He was searching for Pan and got captured by Polyphemus because he had been drawn to the power of the Golden Fleece," Percy responded.

"Makes sense," she replied before gesturing for him to continue on with his story.

"Clarisse accidentally revealed to Polyphemus that Grover was a satyr and not a female Cyclops, which he was pretending to be to avoid getting eaten. So Polyphemus changed his mind and decided to eat Grover and marry Clarisse," Percy said, and Alice made a face when she heard of Polyphemus's wedding fickleness.

"That sounds unpleasant." Percy nodded his head before continuing on with the story.

"Polyphemus rolled a boulder in front of the cave entrance to close it and then went of with his flocks. After some debate, Annabeth and I clung to the underside of two sheep to sneak in. It worked. Annabeth proceeded to distract Polyphemus by donning her invisibility cap and pretending to be Nobody. I went and freed Clarisse and Grover. At that point in time, Annabeth got captured by Polyphemus, so Clarisse, Grover, and I worked together to rescue her. Clarisse and I distracted him while Grover rescued Annabeth."

"Nice planning, seeing as Grover's not really good with combat," Alice interrupted, speaking her thoughts of their satyr acquaintance out loud. Percy nodded again before continuing on with his story as if Alice had never interrupted him.

"We ran across a bridge that separated his man-eating sheep that protected the Fleece from the rest of his herds. Grover cut the bridge, but Polyphemus got across before it was cut. I grew angry, since we had come so far only to be thwarted. I attacked him and killed him." Alice whistled.

"Impressive, especially going by how large he was," she commented. Percy snorted and rolled his eyes at her comment.

"The others stared at me because I had killed him with a ferocity they hadn't seen before. We heard clapping and turned around to see Lou standing there, clapping her hands as if it was a show. I was really happy to see her."

"How did she escape the destruction of the ship?"

"She wrapped herself in a layer of protective magic and then called out to the hippocampus that had been following us to help her. Lou guided the hippocampus out here by using her magic to sense for my aura."

"Sounds like it was a good thing to introduce her to Mama. She seems to have learned a lot about using her magic," Alice commented.

"So it seems," Percy agreed before continuing on with the story. "I looked over Annabeth, for she had a nasty head wound. I asked for somebody to go grab the Fleece, since I figured it could heal here, so Lou wrapped herself in a layer of magic that made her smell like Polyphemus. She then walked right through the herd of man-eating sheep, who thought she was Polyphemus thanks to the smell, and grabbed the Golden Fleece right off of the branch with little issue. I told her toss it to me, and she did. It was heavier than expected."

"You have to remember that it's made out of gold wool."

"True. I placed it over Annabeth, and she began to heal. Though, as we figured out when we realized her ribs were broken but mending, it couldn't heal her completely. Lou was having issues separating herself from the flock of man-eating sheep because they wanted to be fed, so she carefully backed out of the middle of the flock and moved the layer of magic that smelled like Polyphemus onto the tree that the Fleece had been on. The sheep followed it and we ran, Clarisse carrying Annabeth as we did so. We reached the edge of the island only to realize that the ship Annabeth and I came in on was on the other side of the island. I was about to call it to us when Lou told me to wait. She reminded me that the hippocampi would come to my call, so I called to the hippocampi instead, since it would take less time. They came, and we rode away on them." Percy paused to take a break from speaking.

"Nicely done. You got the Fleece and got out with your lives," Alice commented while Percy was taking his break. He nodded his head. "What happened next?" she inquired.

"We washed up in Miami only to find that ten days had passed while we were in the Sea of Monsters."

"You forgot that time passes differently in monstrous places, didn't you," Alice commented.

"Yes," Percy mumbled sheepishly before continuing on. "Since we knew we didn't have much time, we sent Clarisse ahead by airplane with the Golden Fleece."

"You guys still had money on you?"

"Lou and I did. Now shush; I'm getting to the good part. Right after Clarisse took off in a taxi, Luke appeared, having been docked and waiting for us. He asked for the Fleece only to realize that we had just sent it off, so he dragged us aboard the _Princess Andromeda_. I managed to open an IM to Mr. D. at camp before tricking Luke into revealing the entire plan in front of the open window. Mr. D., having heard the evidence, dismissed Tantalus to the Underworld. The campers cheered at that, seeing as he was really annoying and it would mean that Chiron could come back."

"I would have cheered, if I had been there," Alice commented, earning a glare for interrupting Percy. "You weren't bothered by my interrupting earlier."

"As I said earlier, I'm getting to the good part," Percy replied. "Luke closed the IM, and I began fighting him to distract him. Just as he ordered his soldiers to deal with the others, the Party Ponies arrived with Chiron, who had eavesdropped on the IM since he's friends with Iris. We didn't win against Luke and his soldiers, but they didn't win against us either. The Party Ponies took to their camp, where I had a very interesting chat with Chiron." Alice raised an eyebrow but didn't make a comment. "After that, the Party Ponies took us to camp. We arrived just after Clarisse did and watched as the Golden Fleece, which she placed on the tree, started to heal the tree. And, well, that's about it."

"I'm just glad that you're back safe and sound," Alice said after a couple seconds of silence. "Well, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, bro!"

"Goodnight sis," he replied as Alice closed the IM.

_-Line Break-_

Percy stared at the letter that his father had sent him through Hermes. He had had a short chat with the messenger god about his wayward son before being handed the letter. Hermes had left soon after that. Unsure what to do, he wandered over to the camp' fire, where his sister's patron was tending to the fire.

"Hello, Percy. It has been awhile since you have come to me for guidance," Hestia said, gesturing for Poseidon's son to sit down next to her. Percy did so, still staring at the letter his father had sent him.

"Two words: "Brace Yourself". That's all it says. No explanation; no nothing," Percy said. Hestia took a couple seconds to think of her response before she spoke.

"What would my champion, your sister, have to say about it? You do not have to IM her. Just think," the goddess replied gently. Percy thought for a couple of minutes before a look of understanding dawned on his face.

"Something big is going to happen. Something… unexpected," Percy said. Hestia nodded with a small smile on her face.

"Sometimes the best advice is from those closest to you, even when they are not there," she responded. Percy nodded before leaning over and hugging her.

"Thank you, Auntie Hestia. Thank you," he said before standing up and heading over to his cabin. Hestia stared after him with a small smile on her face before turning back to the flame she was tending to.

_-Line Break-_

"Percy! Percy, wake up!" Alice exclaimed. Percy jumped and nearly fell out of his bed.

"What? Alice? But I though you were sleeping in the Big House," Percy commented, confused and still half-asleep. Alice had come to Camp Half-Blood to watch the last chariot race, which Percy was happy to say he won with Annabeth's help, and had ended up staying for the night, so Chiron invited her to sleep in the Big House, so she wouldn't have to sleep in the overcrowded Hermes cabin.

"Something has happened at the tree. Hurry!" she exclaimed as she pulled out clothes for the half-asleep son of Poseidon to get changed into.

"What happened? Be more articulate about it," he finally managed to get out as he got dressed.

"The Fleece did its job too well. Thalia is back," Alice said simply before dragging Percy out of the cabin. Percy didn't protest after that. Instead, he ran along side his sister, wanting to see the person who was destined to be one of his best friends… or one of his worst enemies.

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**Sorry for not updating last week, but I just couldn't find good inspiration for this chapter (I finally got tired of writing The Sea of Monsters. It's not my favorite out of the series, so I can have issues with being inspired to write for it). Though, I am happy with how this chapter turned out.**

**Since I wanted to skip a couple chapters of the book, I decided to make Percy tell Alice what happened (shortcuts are fun). I also wanted to sneak in Hestia some how. And now we're getting into The Titan's Curse!**

**Well, hoped you liked the chapter. I'd love it if you'd review; reviews make my day.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


	14. 14: Alice

**Screw only having the disclaimer up here (though most of the author's note will be at the bottom). I must stress how much I wished I could have gotten this chapter out sooner, but my inspiration to rewrite the Percy Jackson series went *poof*. You now get time skips to important points, and once I finish time skipping through the Last Olympian, you guys are getting a whole new fic that'll be the sequel to this - and based of HoO. That one should NOT be as time skippy as this one, since I have more inspiration for that.**  
**Anyway, I don't own PJO. I'm just playing around with the world Rick Riordan has created. And now (finally), chapter 14.**

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Chapter 14: Alice

If there's one thing to be certain, Olympians throw the best parties. Well, that would have been what Percy would have said if he had gotten a chance to enjoy the party. But he didn't. Currently, he was following Apollo to the infirmary on Olympus, confused. Why did Apollo need him and why the infirmary?

"This must be so confusing for you, but I'll explain once we get there," Apollo said seriously as they turned a corner. Percy was surprised about how serious the sun god was being - and a bit scared. Something bad must have happened to have the normally so cheery god to be serious. And Percy knew that he was about to find that out. A couple minutes later, they arrived at the infirmary.

"Nico? Bianca?" Percy asked the two siblings. They were right next to one of the beds about halfway down the left side of the room. Nico was leaning against the wall and looking at the ground while Bianca sat on an empty bed, staring at the occupied bed in front of her. Bianca glanced up at Percy with an unreadable expression on her face when he said her name before returning to staring intently at the occupied bed in front of her.

"Oh, Percy, please don't hate me! I didn't mean for it to happen! It was a complete accident! Oh, gods, I'm so sorry," Nico started talking quickly, but that was when Percy realized who Bianca was staring intently at.

"Alice!" Percy exclaimed, rushing over to the bedside. He stared down in horror at his sister, who laid unconscious on the infirmary bed. She was so pale that her skin looked white at first glance, and her left wrist was wrapped in bandages. He turned to Bianca, who didn't even twitch when he rushed over.

"What happened?" he quietly asked Bianca, who looked up at him. Her expression spoke of horror, sadness - and was that a bit of guilt?

"It happened towards the end of the quest we accompanied her on," Bianca finally spoke after a couple seconds of silence. "You know how she wanted Nico and I to accompany her on the quest she was given by one of the gods?" Percy nodded his head.

Originally, Zoe had wanted to take Bianca along with Phoebe on the quest to rescue Artemis, but when Alice requested both di Angelo siblings to accompany her on a quest given by some god - only Alice actually knew who had given her the quest - Zoe agreed and instead dragged Percy along for the quest. He had been unsure why she had chosen him to replace him until they had talked briefly. Zoe had mentioned that if he could be such a positive influence on Hera, then she would be willing to travel with another male. He also had a feeling that Alice might have talked to her a bit too.

"Well, I'm not sure if you were given the details, but we were sent to retrieve an old Stygian Iron sword from a cave somewhere in the Rocky Mountains - don't ask me where specifically, Alice flamed us there. Anyway, when we eventually found the cave, we realized something. The whole cave was booby trapped with curses, trip wires, and similar things." Bianca spoke quietly as Nico moved from leaning against the wall to sitting next to his sister, who wrapped an arm around him and hugged him as best as she could.

"That doesn't sound pleasant," Percy commented before getting glared at by Bianca for interrupting. "Sorry, continue."

"We finally managed to reach the sword after dodging all the curses and setting off a couple of the other traps - all I have to say about those is your sister has wonderful reflexes and was smart enough to arm us before we even arrived at the cave." She paused to take a breath and Nico took over telling the story.

"She - Alice, not Bianca - then went up to the sword, casting a lot of spells doing who knows what, and picked it up. Silence. And we all breathed a sigh of relief. Until we heard the roar. Some monster - didn't quite catch a glimpse of it - had been released from wherever it had been kept-" Nico said before being interrupted.

"I still say whatever had kept it," Bianca added before being glared at by her brother. She then gestured for him to continue the story.

"However it was kept, it was now on the loose. Alice led us through the traps quickly as we tried to get away from whatever beast had been set free. That was when it happened. I tripped, and... and..." At that point in time, Nico pressed his face into his sister's shoulder, who quickly drew the now crying ten-year-old into a hug. Percy frowned, wondering what had happened to cause him to burst into tears at the memory.

"Shh, shh," Bianca said comfortingly, rubbing her brothers back soothingly before turning back to Percy to continue the story. "Nico tripped and almost fell against one of the cursed tiles on the floor - it was like a minefield in there - but Alice pushed him out of the way..." she trailed off, not looking Percy in the eye.

"And she got cursed instead," Percy uttered quietly, staring at the di Angelo siblings. Bianca nodded as Nico began to calm down under her soothing touch.

"It's a very interesting curse," Apollo said, making Percy, who had forgotten the god was even in the room, jump. "I don't know half of what went into it, so I can't remove it from her. Though, I've managed to get the basics of it to soften its affect on your sister." Percy had to take a deep breath before asking Apollo about the curse.

"How bad is it?" he asked quietly, almost afraid to look over at bed that held his unconscious sister.

"She'll basically have to forgo using her magic and godly powers," Apollo said softly. Percy looked up at the god in horror.

"Not even to flame?"

"Not even that. The curse eats away at her magic core, and her godly powers are tied into her magic core. The more she uses her magic; the more it consumes her core. I've managed to limit it to being activated when she uses her magic, but that's barely better than the original - which would have eaten away at her core slowly, even when she wasn't using her magic."

"It's a slower process. It means we have more time to figure out a way to rid her of the curse," Percy stated firmly. "Though, why is her left wrist wrapped up if she was cursed?" Apollo walked over to the bed and unraveled the wrapping covering Alice's wrist.

Percy first impression was that it was a thick, black bracelet curling around her wrist. But then he realized that it was tattooed on her skin.

"What... what is that?" he asked Apollo shaking, staring at the inky blackness of the tattoo that marred his sister's pale skin.

"The curse, in a physical form. I don't know if it's a mark to show she's cursed or what, but it is definitely tied to the curse."

"It was there after she fell, and it seemed to crawl along her arm as we raced out of the cave. In fact, it started crawling along her arm faster when she flamed us back to Camp Half-Blood," Bianca said suddenly, turning her attention to Percy and Apollo. Apollo frowned, thoughtful.

"Then it must show the progression of the curse. I can't tell you its endpoint or how it'll change, but if she uses her magic, it'll change," Apollo finally said after a couple seconds of thought.

"Thank you, Apollo, for everything you have done - for me, in the past, and for Alice now," Percy said, addressing Apollo even as he sat down on Alice's bed and took her right hand in his.

"You don't blame me, do you?" Nico asked quietly. Percy turned to look at the younger di Angelo, still holding his sister's hand.

"It's not your fault. Accidents happen, and it just so happens that this accident is very serious," Percy said, before turning back to his sister. He would sit by her bedside, holding her hand, until she woke up.

* * *

**Plot twist that I've had planned since I decided to spare Bianca~! I was expecting this chapter be about half the length it ended up being, but I'm not complaining. And my original plan for the chapter didn't have Nico and Bianca in it, but I'm glad I added them.  
**

**And don't rag on me on OOC!Nico. First off, my story. Second off, the Nico you all are thinking of is post Bianca's death Nico and about three years older. And he shall remain not quite canon for the rest of this fic (and its sequels) since my!Nico goes through different challenges than canon!Nico.**

**If you have any questions, see any issues, have any comments, please review. I put at least an hour into this chapter; you can take a couple minutes to write me a nice review. Anyway, reviews make me happy.**

**~xXDarkDiaXx**


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